With the growing success of YCombinator and Techstars in the past couple of years, accelerators have become a crucial piece of developing a vibrant start-up ecosystem – a crucial piece that was unfortunately missing in Vancouver after Bootup Labs stopped taking in new companies in fall last year. So I am extremely excited that we announced today a new accelerator in Vancouver: GrowLab is a “startup boot camp” for entrepreneurs whose companies will receive up to $25,000 in seed funding, four months of mentorship, free office space and the opportunity to pitch investors at the end of the program for follow-on funding. The program is accepting applications from entrepreneurs globally and will be based in Vancouver for the first three months, with the fourth month in San Francisco.